


A Guest Lecturer at Hogwarts

by dragon_hivernal



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Identity Issues, Surveillance, Written for a Class
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-09 11:21:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8888881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragon_hivernal/pseuds/dragon_hivernal
Summary: A Ministry employee comes to Hogwarts to deliver a short presentation on surveillance and identity theft.
This story takes place sometime between the end of book seven and the epilogue.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I've taken a few liberties in writing this fic. For one, it's assumed that the truth about Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew was revealed at some point prior to the presentation. Also, I've never heard of a night-vision spell, but it exists for the sake of this fic.
> 
> As always, this is fanfiction. I don't own Harry Potter. I just came up with Maura, the Ministry employee.
> 
> This is part of a project I wrote for a class, so I apologise if it comes across as stilted or something. I'm not super pleased with how it turned out, but I figured I'd post it anyway. I don't have a beta, so I welcome constructive criticism. Also, if you notice any grammar or spelling mistakes, please let me know!

Years had passed since Maura Calderwell had last seen Hogwarts, but the sight of the restored castle still stole her breath. She made her way to the castle from the village of Hogsmeade, huffing as she climbed the steep slope. She didn’t remember the trek to the castle being quite this tiring back when she attended school there.  
  
Headmistress Minerva McGonagall was there to greet Maura at the entrance. Maura smiled and gave a little wave before finally reaching her destination.  
  
“Professor McGonagall, it’s lovely to see you! You look well. I hope you haven’t been waiting for me long,” Maura said cheerily.  
  
“It’s good to see you too, Ms. Calderwell, though you should know you needn’t call me professor any longer. And you are precisely on time, so don’t worry. Thank you for agreeing to speak with the students. Merlin knows we should have instated a similar system years ago.”  
  
“I only saw a need and thought myself qualified to do something about it, Minerva. Besides, the Ministry helped me coordinate this effort. I only hope that I’ve sufficiently prepared, and that I don’t bore the students to death!”  
  
An amused smile pulled at Minerva’s lips. “That shouldn’t be a problem for you. I seem to recall you were quite an organised student in your days here. Come, I have a large group of rambunctious adolescents waiting in the Great Hall for your lecture.”  
  
Maura followed her old professor into the Great Hall, compulsively checking her folder to make sure all her notes were still there. She would panic if she’d dropped something on the windy path to Hogwarts, but everything seemed to be in order.  
  
The hall felt smaller than Maura remembered, and goodness, were the children tiny! Had she truly been that small, once? She didn’t have long to wonder, because Minerva promptly called for the students’ attention. The children quieted at once, which quite impressed Maura. The professor clearly had not lost any of her commanding presence.  
  
“Students, I would like to present Ms. Maura Calderwell, an employee from the Ministry of Magic. She works for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in the Improper Use of Magic Office. She proposed the idea of coming to give a guest presentation at Hogwarts, and it is thanks to her hard work that she is now here to give exactly that. I shouldn’t need to say this, but I expect all of you to be respectful of Ms. Calderwell.” Minerva took a step back and waved Maura forward as dutiful applause filled the hall. “Ms. Calderwell? The floor is yours.”  
  
“Ah, thank you, Minerva,” Maura forced out past the sudden knot in her throat. Louder, she said, “Thank you, everyone, for your time today. As Minerva said, my name is Maura Calderwell. Now, I know that my job might be off-putting to some of you. Although I work for the Improper Use of Magic Office, I’m not here to catch or punish you!”  
  
A couple students chuckled at that, and Maura was certain she saw one Gryffindor elbow his neighbour with a knowing glance.  
  
Feeling emboldened, Maura continued. “So, don’t worry about me. Today, I am here for you, not for the Ministry. As such, I welcome any questions you might have. If you raise your hand, I’ll be sure to call on you.  
  
“You may have heard that the topic of my lecture is surveillance and identity theft, which is true, but you may not know exactly what I mean by that. Simply put, have any of you ever wondered about the Trace placed on you until you come of age, or how it works? I certainly did, and this was part of the reason I sought the job I did. I wanted to know how I was being monitored, and I believe that all of you have the right to know about magic that affects you. The Trace may not affect you directly, but you deserve to know more about it nonetheless.  
  
“What do you know about the Trace?” Maura asked. “Go on, raise your hands. Ah, how about the Ravenclaw over there.”  
  
The Ravenclaw student was quick to give her answer. “The Trace monitors underage witches and wizards for the use of magic where it could be witnessed by muggles.”  
  
“Very good! Now, some of you may know that the Trace has its limitations. It detects magic cast near an underage magic user, as well as the nature of the spell, but not who the true caster is. There is a spell that makes up for this flaw, though, called the reverse spell, or _prior incantato ___. With it, we can tell which wand cast the spell. There are other drawbacks of the Trace as well, such as it being difficult to monitor spell use in areas with a high magical population like Hogwarts. Overage magic users are exempt from the Trace, which means we cannot use it for detective work in those circumstances.  
  
“Now, I’d like to know your opinions. Do you think that the Trace is a fair way to make sure magic isn’t accidentally revealed to muggles? Do you think that it’s effective?” Maura’s eyes swept the hall. Her speech was going well, if the mostly interested faces peering up at her were any indication.  
  
A slight Slytherin boy was the first to be chosen. “I actually have a question. You can tell which spells we cast at any time? Isn’t that an invasion of privacy?”  
  
“Ah, it does seem like it, doesn’t it?” Maura replied. “Fortunately, we don’t closely monitor magic used in magical homes, so no, we don’t note every shaving charm or acne removal spell cast.”  
  
A smattering of chuckles sounded, and a few of the more bored-looking teens looked up for a moment.  
  
“Then again,” Maura said with a wink, “spellcasting away from Hogwarts is forbidden if you’re underage, so I’m sure we have nothing to worry about. My office also only checks for spells cast in the presence of muggles, not for personal charms like those. Anybody else?” When there was no response, Maura moved on. “How about other methods of surveillance? Can anyone name any?”  
  
A first-year Gryffindor stuttered, “The Hogwarts portraits?” Shrinking in his seat, he mumbled, “I feel like they’re always watching me.” His cheeks turned bright red when some of his fellow Gryffindors laughed, but Maura thanked him readily for the example.  
  
“That’s an excellent example. If you’ve had the chance—or perhaps the misfortune—to visit the Headmistress’ office, you may be aware that the Hogwarts portraits do report to her. They can keep her apprised of a student who’s fallen and twisted an ankle, duels in the corridors, or students out of bed, to name a few examples. Just as they can alert the Headmistress, they can also alert the Hospital Wing so that it can be ready to receive patients. But portraits have their own personalities, and many of them have very little interest in your lives.  
  
“Apart from watching your comings and goings, have any of you considered how else the portraits might help you? For the first-years among you, remember that you can ask the portraits for directions when you are lost. That knowledge would certainly have helped me in my first year.  
  
“We’ve talked about a couple of monitoring systems. Can anybody give me examples of how these systems can be circumvented?” Maura glanced down at her notes. She was pleased to find that she’d been staying on topic so far.  
  
“You want us to think of how to get around your surveillance? Is that really in your best interests?” a Slytherin asked in disbelief.  
  
Maura grinned. “You’re teenagers. I have no doubt many of you have thought of this before, and if not, then think of this as an exercise in creative thinking. How can our systems improve if they’re never questioned?”  
  
An upper-year Hufflepuff raised her hand, and Maura gestured for her to speak. “Portraits can’t see in the dark, so you could sneak past them with a night-vision spell. And you could use someone else’s wand to get around the reverse spell.”  
  
“That’s right, though the portraits can still hear you. As for the drawback of the reverse spell you mentioned, it’s part of the reason why it’s so important to keep your wand with you at all times. Your wand can be your most valuable tool, and it’s also a very personal item, so don’t let it out of your sight.  
  
“That brings me to my next topic: disguise and identification. Each person’s wand is unique, which makes it an easy way to quickly identify someone. If a person who is transfigured or under the effect of Polyjuice Potion does not also have the correct wand, they can be discovered that way. On the flip side, be aware that a person who has your wand may be able to impersonate you. Again, keep your wand close.  
  
“Speaking of Polyjuice Potion, the events of a few years ago drove home the effectiveness of the potion. Though it is challenging to brew, it allows the drinker to take on the complete appearance of another person for an hour. You’ve surely heard the story of Bartemius Crouch Jr., a Death Eater who impersonated the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Alastor Moody for an entire year.”  
  
Here, there were some solemn nods. The magical world may be trying to move on from the war against Voldemort, but recovery was slow.  
  
“No one suspected his true identity,” Maura continued. “There was one simple tell that could have revealed his deceit, however. He needed to drink his next dose of the potion every hour, which meant that he often drank it in clear view of staff and students. I hope this teaches you to be on the lookout for such a tactic, because Polyjuice Potion is one of the main methods used in identity theft.  
  
“Another way to prevent impersonation through Polyjuice is to be careful of what you leave lying around. Polyjuice Potion requires a piece of the person you’ll become, such as hair or nail clippings. Cleaning up after yourself is a simple way to help prevent impersonation.  
  
“There are other ways to disguise oneself that I haven’t talked about. Transfiguration, Animagi, and Metamorphmagi are some, though the last two are quite rare. The Metamorphmagus ability is inborn, while, in theory, anyone with assistance and dedication can become an Animagus. Your Headmistress is an Animagus, herself, though I won’t ask her to demonstrate.  
  
“Animagi are required to register with the Ministry, and possess distinctive markings in animal form. Registration allows us to monitor Animagi for the misuse of their ability, which has posed a problem in the recent past. Registration as an Animagus is more than an honour system, since becoming an Animagus is very difficult and usually requires a great deal of mentoring. It is also incredibly dangerous to attempt it without assistance. As such, the registry is fairly accurate, but a couple of Animagi showed the flaws in the system.  
  
“The case of Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew came to light recently, revealing grave oversights on the part of the Ministry. Both were unregistered Animagi. Pettigrew framed Black by slipping away from the destruction he caused in rat form, feigning his own death. The Death Eater Pettigrew lived as a pet rat for over a decade, while Black was wrongfully imprisoned in Azkaban. Black was the first person to ever escape the prison, and he did so by transforming into a dog and slipping through the bars. The escapes of these two men, one from prison and the other from the scene of his crime, were only made possible by their status as unregistered Animagi. So, if you ever notice an animal with distinctive markings behaving oddly, be aware that it might be an Animagus.”  
  
Maura shuffled her notes before going on. “Despite the flaws, there are ways to remove magical disguises like Polyjuice or transfiguration. One of which is a charm called the Thief’s Downfall, a defense used at Gringotts. It strips those it touches of all magical effects.  
  
“I have another question for you. When is it okay to be in disguise? For instance, is it so bad to impersonate a friend for fun or petty mischief? Here’s another thought: is drinking an ageing potion truly disguising yourself? After all, you remain the same person. When does disguise become illegal or unethical?”  
  
“I would say that ageing potions are okay, so long as you don’t pretend to be overage if you’re not,” a Gryffindor declared.  
  
“But what if you deceive someone close to you for a long time?” a Ravenclaw asked before Maura could respond. “Say you met someone at the bar, and they thought you were thirty, even though you were really nineteen. It wouldn’t be right to lie about your age.”  
  
“We’ve reached the category of lies,” Maura interjected. “And we’re not here to discuss whether lying is right or wrong. Still, you brought up a good point. It may not be illegal to take an ageing potion, but what you use it for matters. Pretending to be older to do something you otherwise couldn’t is when the use of the potion becomes problematic. The same goes for many other forms of disguise.  
  
“We’ve gone over the topics I had planned for today, and I believe that I’ve used up all the time allotted, so we come to the end of my presentation. Thank you very much for listening and for your participation. For those of you who don’t mind cutting into your lunch time, I’ll be here for a while longer to answer your questions.”  
  
This time, the applause was much more sincere. Maura let Minerva conclude her presentation, glad that it was over, but also glad that she’d done it. Hopefully her words set the young minds to thinking. That was all she could ask for. After she answered a few last questions, she would return to her usual work at the Ministry and all of the paperwork that entailed.


End file.
